751 Patent Law, Spring 2015

This is an introductory course relevant for students who plan to practice business law (particularly in technology-related areas) or general litigation, as well as for those who intend to practice patent law. We will cover patentable subject matter, utility, novelty, non-obviousness, disclosure doctrines related to section 112 of the patent code, infringement, and remedies. Most of these topics are also covered in Intro to IP, but we cover them in much greater detail. This course primarily covers substantive law and patent policy as developed through patent litigation, with only a minor focus on litigation procedure or patent office procedure. This is not a course in patent prosecution. Comparative law issues will be raised throughout the course; however, only U.S. doctrine and cases will be studied. You may be aware that U.S. patent law recently underwent significant substantive changes with the passage of the America Invents Act (AIA). We cover both the AIA and pre-AIA law, because many existing patents will be litigated under the Pre-AIA rules and because a great deal of existing case law will be relevant to litigation under the AIA. You may take this course pass/fail, and you may take it for either three or four credits. If you take it for three credits, you will have fewer required in–class hours and a slightly shorter final exam.